OF THE ERECTION OF 

FLEMINGTON. N. J. 
MAY 23. 1906 




ISntlj Annterfiarg 



OF THE ERECTION OF 



©II? 3ffbmmg llouar 



FLEMINGTON. N. J. 



MAY 23. 1906 



FLEMINGTON. N. J. 

HIRAM E. DEATS 

I906 






^"ti^" 



^\'f 



-T-WD hundred copies reprinted from the Hun- 
terdon County Democrat of M.iy 29, 1906. 

Tlie Killgore PreSB, 
Pleminjfton, N. J. 



i[n Of e. A. i Of m ivm 



Celebrate the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniver« 

sary of Flemington by placing a Beautiful 

Tablet on Oldest House. 



As announced in our last wppfe'a \«. 
sue, Cnl, Lowrey Chapter o^hR Jjaugb- 
terg of the American Revolution of 
Flpmingtnn unveiled the memorial tab- 
let on the Flflnain^ house on BonneU 
street on Wpdnesday, Mav 23rd. It 
wfl8 aleo the date of the annua' meeting 
nf the New Jereev Sncieiv of ♦^he D. A 
R and a lare;e number of the members of 
the organ'z^itioo took adv«Qtae« of the 
plbaaant day to pay a visit to Fleming- 
ton. Most of the vi8itor8 arrived on 
the noon train over the Central Rail- 
road of New Jereev and proceeded to the 
Presbyterian Church where they w^re 
received by Mrs. Hiiam E. Deats, Re- 
gent of Col. Lowrey Chapter; Miss 
Ellen Mecum, of Salem. State Regent; 
Mrs. William D Kearfolt, of Monlclair, 
Vice-President General for New Jersev, 
and Mrs. E G. Putnam, of Elizibeth, 
Stale Vice Regent. A bountilul lunch- 
eon had been provided in the church 
parlors by the Woman's Auxiliary of 
the Presbyterian Cliurch. At two 
o'clock the regular program was held in 
the main audience room ot the church, 



"Peniia with «n ora<\n p»*e'uc'°i bv Mr. 
Norman Landis, followed hv an iovo- 
cation bv the Rev. J. L. Miner, pastor 
of the Baptist Church. Mrs Deats 
then made a brief address of welcome, 
to which resnonses were made by Miss 
Mecum. Mrs Kearfott, Mrs Putnam 
and Mrs. Terry, of New York. Tele- 
grams of regret were sent by Mrs. 
Donald McLean, President General of 
the National Society and Mrs. Althea 
Randolph Bedle. widow of ex-Governor 
Bedle, ot .Jersey City. 

Mrs. Herbert Turrell, Hfteent of the 
0;anee Mountain Chapter, then ad- 
dressed the assembly on settlement 
work among the Italians in that sec- 
tion of the Stale. The lime was too 
short to permit of any more than an 
outline ot this important movement. 

Our own Mr Vosseller then gave a 
brief history of Flemington, although 
he claims it is not worthy the title of 
history. The paper is printed in full 
below, aud our readers will flud that it 
is a brief, chatty and entertaining 
sketch, well suited to the occasion ou 



which it was delivererl. 

Mrs Judiah Ili^yins eana the Star 
Spangled Banner, aftpr which an ad- 
jonrnment was tflken to the Fleming 
house, on Bonnell strept, where the 
tablet, which is illustrated below, was 
unveiled and a brief addresa made by 
Hon. John L. Connet. 



U. 



Judge Connet bad scarcely begun his 
remarks when be was interrupted by 
the arrival of Mrs. Donald McLean, 
Prrsident General, who had unexpecl- 
pdly arrived on the afternoon train. 
She was called to the platform and in- 
troduced to the audierce for a three 
minu'e talk. She graphically told how 
in addition to an hour's wait in Somer- 
ville Bhe had been obliged to wait for 
another cause, beins informed that "the 
milk cans to be distributed along the 
South Bianch were of more importance 
than the President General of the Na- 
tional Society ol the Daughters of the 
American Revolution." Mrs. McLean 
was then obliged to hasten awav to 
catch the three forfy-five train for New 
York and Judge Connet flaished hie 
address, which we also give our readers 
in full below. 



The tablet was press' t d to the 
Chapter bv Robert Reardnn & Son, and 
it has dnnbilesH surprised muny of the 
pef pie of Flemington that we have nad 
in our town for so many years nn artist 
and workman oapible of "uch beautiful 
work. As soon as Mr. Reardon heard 
of the suggested marking of the Flem- 
ing house he promptly oflered to furnish 
the tablet. In addition to the thanks 
of tl e Chapter, which he has already 
received, we are sure that all the c ti- 
zens of the town will unite in thanking 
him for this important addition to its 
other attractions 

While Judge Connet v. a"? speaking 
Miss Sunderlin secured some excellent 
snapshots, one ol which we reproduce 
We regret, however, that it shows less 
than a quarter of the audier ce gathered 
there. The schools were closed at three 
o'clock to enable the pupils and 
teachers to be present. 

The city newspapers all made men- 
tion of the affair. The "Newark News" 
pr-inted the greater part of both ad- 
dresses, together «iih an illustration of 
the house and tablet and portraits of 
Mrs. Deats and Mrs. Kearfott. 

We must not omit to mention the 
generous way in which the citizens of 
the town added to the occasion by decor- 
ating the buildings and hanging out the 
flag. 0?er two hundred lligs are said 
to have been counted in front of resi- 
dences and other buildings. 

Mr. Vosseller Said : 

Madam President General, and D<ugh- 
ters of the American Revnluiion : — 

I appreciate the honor conferred 
upon me bv vour courteous invitation 
to place before you, biiefly, some of the 
inter( sting events ia the history of our 
old village. 

Two hundred years ago the large 
tracts of land in this part of our State, 
containing thousands of acres and own- 
ed by Wm. Penn, Diniel Coxe and 
others, began to be broken up iuto 
smaller parcels, aud to be occupied by 
actual settlers There were more 
wolves here than sheep, more bears 
than horses and more Indians than 
white folks. And back of this gather 
all the clouds and darkness of uncer- 
tainty. 




FLEMIXG CASTLE. iroG-1906 



An Indian Irbr bad i's eix'^fnpmfnt 
just back ot yonder bill. Tuccrt-Mir- 
dan, tbe cbief, had his wigwam, how- 
ever, near ihe leg cabin of John Philip 
Kase, which stood near the prepenl 
dwelling ot Mr. O B. Davis, on Mine 
Brook. Between these families the 
closest friendship existed 'nnd the chil- 
dren of the Kase fariilv felt as much at 
home in the wigwam of tlie chief as in 
their own log housf". 

In 174G Saoauel Flemiog was licensed 
to keep a tavern in a log hou^e and in 
1756 he built "Fleming Castle", which 
Judge Connet will tell you more about 
presently. 

After the building of this magnifleent 
structure, the place began to bp spoken 
of as the Flenoing settlement, later as 
Fleming's and still later Flemington. 
This "(yastlp" stood a little back from 
a road which rac from a mill on the 
South Branch on the site of the present 



R ekaf l!ow Mi'l, to Howell's Ferry on 
t'^e Delaware River. This road crosse-l 
Ihe Trenton road, which is now our 
main street, at a sharp angle just in 
t'ont of this chuTch. Tradition fays 

I t'Mt this Trenton road ran thro' a 

i splendid huckleberry pafch. 

1 Near the "Castle" was a well, now 
covered over, into which a little girl 
fell and was drowned. Perhsps this 
tragedy furnished the ghost that haunt- 

I ed this bcusft afterward and which was 
seen mojestically rising from a potato 

1 heap and dissolving into thin air, on 
one occasion, when the lady of the 

1 house had the temerity to visit her cel- 

1 lar about midnight. 

In 1750 Thomas Lowrey bought six 
hundred and fifty square feel of land 
from Samuel Fleming, who afterward 
became his father-in-law, and built a 

j store on it. This was the first store in 
this region and became tbe centre of a 



large business. It stood in front of 
this church, a little to the west and in 
what is DOW Mr. James E. Brodhead's 
front yard. It was near the intersec- 
tion of the two roads referred to and 
was replaced in 1775 by a larger and 
better building by Thomas Lowrey and 
this later one was the store which was 
raided on Dec 14'.h, 1776, by a detach- 
ment of Harcourt's Cavalry, thj Six- 
teenth Regiment, known as "The 
Queen's Own", which was the crack 
Uavalry Regiment of the British Army 
and at that time was with C(jrnwallis 
at Trenton. This raid was made with 
the double purpose of capturing Col. 
Lowrey, who was one of Washington's 
Commissaries, and the provisions he 
bad collected in his store for the use 
of Washington's Army. That story, 
however, is too long for this occasion 

In 17G2 Thos. Lowrey and others sur- 
veyed and laid out building lots along 
the Trenton road and sold a number of 
them This no doubt determined the 
direction of our Main Street. In 1767 
he and James Eddy, a merchant of 
Philadelphia ard one of the owners of 
these buildiog lots, save one of them 
containing a half acre for the use of a 
Baptist Church. This emphasized the 
direction of Main Street and later on 
the other road was closed, and even 
some cherry trees which marked its di- 
rection near the "Castle" have disap- 
peared. 

Thoe, Lowrey built a house on the 
site now occupied by Mr. Hugh C. 
Nevius, just south and east of this 
church. Soon after his marriage this 
house was burned. A colored boy be- 
longing to him got ofTended at a young 
man, an employee, and built a tire 
under his bed, explaining that he 
"didn't wane to burn the house, but 
the young man." During the fire, the 
housekeeper, an old lady, kept calling 
out, "Do try to save the most valuable 
things", while she herself was trying to 
8«ve an empty barrel with both heads 
out. A really handsome house was 
afterward built on this site with bricks 
imported from England. The two 
spacious front rooms were finished with 
beautiful cornices and the lire places 
framed with handsome tiles. When 
the Court House was burned, the pris- 
oners were kept in this house under 



guard for one niaht, and the next day 
sent to Somerville. A late** owner 
"improved" this house by tearing out 
the cornices in which he found several 
pieces of Engliph silver money and a 
two-edged dagger. He also took out 
the tiles from the fire placs and cover- 
ed over the brick walls with stucco 
In spite of all this vaodalis»ra it is a 
handsome house yet. In 1789 Mrs. 
Ijowrev (Esther Fl^'ming) was one of 
the matrons in charge of the ceremon- 
ies at Trenton on that memorable oc- 
casion of Gen. Washington's reception, 
and passage under the tri imphal arch 
at that place, and her daughter Mary 
was one of the thirteen lovely young 
girls who strewed flowers before him as 
they sang 

"Welcome Mighty chief once more, 
Welcome to this grateful shore; 
Now no mercenary foe 
Aims again the fatal blow — 
Aims at thee the fatal blow. 
Virgins fair and matrons grave. 
Whom thy conquering arm did save, 
Build for then triumphal bowers : 
Strew, ye fair, his way with tlowerf; 
Strew your hero's wav with flowers." 

By the way, can any "Daughter" 
tell me what music the? sang on this 
occasion and who wrote it ? 

In 1785 Flemington, which probably 
contained not more than twelve or flf- 
tpen houces, became the fonnty seat nf 
Hunterdon County In 1791 a Court 
House was built. These lo ward slepa 
were taken largely thro' the influence 
of Jasper Smith, who was a lawyer, 
and a man of great energy and public 
spirit. He was a devout church mem- 
ber and had a great deal to do with the 
organizition of the Presbyterian 
Church of Flemington in 1791. 

The first edifice of the Presbyterian 
congregation was built in 1794 in one 
corner of the grave vard, with a tavern 
in front of it In 185G the congrfga- 
tioo boueht the tavern properly and 
erected their second edifice in its place 
The congregation outgrew this bui'd- 
ing during the ministry of Rev Dr. 
Geo. S Mott, of blessed memory, and 
in 1883 replaced it with the church w-^ 
are occupying to-dav. Ou'y seven pis- 
lors have ministered to this congrega- 
tion which has had aliteexteLding over 



one hundred and Sfleen yearp. 

In 1776 Col. Charles Stewart became 
one of Washington's staff, a position 
he occupied until the clofe of the war. 
After the war he moved to Flemington 
and lived in a house that stood "ear 
the residence of the late John C Hope- 
well. Washington held him in high 
esteem. He and Mrs. Washington 
were frequent visitors at his house 
Hi? dauenter Martha married Capt 
Robert Wilson, who was wounded at 
the battle of German'own and died in 
1779. Mrs. Wilson was distinguished 
for her beauty, for her brilliant and 
cultured mind a"d for her great execu- 
tive ability When her father was 
away in the army, she took entire 
charge of the estate, managing his large 
farming enterprises to his entire sat's- 
factioo. . Mrs. EUet in her book, 
"Women of the American Revolution", 
devotes a whole chapter to Martha 
Wilson. Gen. Washington was very 
^ond of her only daughter and fre- 
quently held the child on his lap and 
kissed her. SHe married John Myer 
Bowers and after the war received 
marked attention from Mrs. Washmg- 
ton. They were on such friendly terms 
that they got out their sewing or knit- 
ting when visiting. Mrs. Bowers re- 
lates that on one occasion Mrs. Wash- 
ington ravelled a set of old satin chair 
covers, inherited by her. She had the 
material carded and spun with the ad- 
dition of cotton yarn woven in alternate 
broad and narrow stripes, the broad 
being of white cotton and the narrow 
of crimsoc silk. Out of this fabric she 
had two morning dresses made f'^r her- 
self. 

Gov Jno. Reaf'ing bought six hun- 
dred acre"* of land just out of our vil- 
lage along the South Branch He 
built two fine residences, which are 
s'ill standing, one occupied by Mr 
Jacob Polhemup, near the Valley sta- 
tion, and the other by Mr. George W. 
Campen. The bricks ot which ttie lat- 
ter was built, in 1760, were imported 
Tnat house, too, has lost many of its 
charms by being modernized. 

Gov. Reading had seven eons nnd 
three daughters. The sons were Hclive 
in the Revolutionary struggle. Fiveol 
them settled hereabouts and exercised ' 



a strong influence for good in state, 
church and educational matters. One 
of his descendants gave the money for 
the buildicg of Reading Academy, 
which is now our High School. 

In the grave yard of the Presbyter- 
ian Church lie the remains of at least 
six R-^vnlutionary soldiers. With one 
exception, these graves are unmarked. 
Mftjor John Howe had a "friend" 
who placed a bombastic and ridiculous 
inscription on his grave stone. If the 
others could know about it they doubt- 
less would thank the Lord that they 
died without such a "friend" and be 
reconciled to lying in unknown graves. 

One of this number was Capt. Th^s 
Gearhart.. To him and Capt. Daniel 
Bray and Capt. Thos. Jones was as- 
Hgaed the direction of that most ditii- 
cult and hazardous enterprise rfijol- 
lecting the boats to carry out Washinji- 
ton's brilliant achievement at Irenton. 
He carried a bullet in his knee, but 
when the doctors offered to cut it out 
he refused, saying, "^o : I got f^at 
ball in the Revolution and I mean to 
carrv it as long as I live", and he did, 
tho' it made him a cripple tor life. 

When a tired, hot and dusty visitor 
step^ off the train at our Central station 
and looks down our Ma'n Street, a 
senbe of comfort aod refreshment takes 
possespino of him at once, for he sees a 
eool, sprinkled avenue, with substantial 
sidewalks, flanked by well-kept lawns 
bright with flowers, and trees arching 
overhead as far as the vision extends. 

If he goes sight-seeing, among other 
thing he will tiod six churches, two tine 
buildings housing our public school 
with a corps of thirteen leathers, a 
beautiful monument dedicated to the 
memnry of those who died for their 
country, a Public Fountain for the re- 
treshment of man and beast, a Court 
House,iQteresting because of its age ; an 
up-to dale public building for county 
uses, three lively newspapers, a free 
public library and reading room, a park, 
a generous water supply, a first-class 
sewerage system, gas, elect' ic lights, 
etc., etc., and a Woman's Club that 
does things. To them we are in ehied 
for our Public Fountain. Thev also 
transformed a patch of waste land, 
which had become an eyesore by rea- 



6 



son cf DPglect, into a thina: of beauty 
and tn-day we are proud ot our Park 
and it gives promise of much greater 
beauty in the years to come. This 
Club also is the backbone of our Free 
Library and Readirg Room. They 
have created also a snirit of village im- 
provement, which shows on all our 
streets and on our lawns as well 
Their latest endeavor is to teach the ; 
little girls of the village to sew, and a 
weekly meeting for that purpose is 
largely attended, Htid the results sur- 
prisingly satisfactory. 

He will find a much smaller organ- 
ization also, a Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, mak- 
ing its influence felt as you see to-day. 
Also a musical organization which for 
years has rendered the oratorio of the 
Crucifixion on Good Friday night with- 
out cost to the audienco and wh'ch 
year by year, with the aid of great so- 
loisis from the cities, is preseoticg one 
or another of the great masterpieces, 
like the Messiah, The Elijah, etc , ?t a 
nominal cost, which gives to the com- 
munity musical opportunities not usual- 
ly to be had outside the cities. 

And last, but not least, he will see 
one ot the handsomest liberty poles in 
the State, from which "Old Glory", 
that emblem of freedom, is flving to- 
day, in honor of this meeting ot the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. 
nr. Connet's Address was as Follows : 

It is eminently appropriate that some 
recr>gDition should be made of this 
ancient fabric, because of its ase, 
his'ory and traditions If these walls 
could speak, I havo no doubt they c^u'd 
tell us many things that we of this 
generati^n cannot possiblv know 

Aside, perhaps, from f^ome ]og huts, 
this was the fi'st house built here, and 
was the inoep'ion and (ourdation of 
this beautiful village. D should stand 
as long as any houses in the village re- 
mains. 

It is fitting too that such a tablet ns 
you Daughters of the American Rpvolu 
tioo, have, through the kindness of the 
present owners, placed upon it, and 
which will presently be px'nhitfd to 
your view, should mark it, so that all 
passers-by may read and learn Id some 
degree its history. 



To all I wish to siy that ihi« memorial 
was wrought by and is 'he gift, of one 
of our townsmen, Mr. Riberl R^ardm, 
who takes a deep interest in historical 
matters, to Col. Lowrey Chapter, ot 
your estimable and patriotic order, and 
is placed here by tiiat Chapter. 

Many of the early settlers of this 
community were cf Irish nativity, and 
among Itose who came from Ireland at 
an early day, and settled here was 
Samuel Fleming. He purchased a 
considerable quantity of land in this 
vicinity, an;! a pirt of that land consist- 
ed of the territory upon which Fleming- 
ton is now located. He ha"* the honor 
of being the founder ot this "Village, 
and from him it takes its name. 

Althonsh previous to his coming here 
other white men had purchased large 
tracts of land, the neighborhood was in 
sime degree inhabited by Indians, and 
I have no doubt much of the land was 
covered by forests. Just west of us 
there was quite an Indian settlement, 
belonging I believe to that vast tribe 
that had its hunting grounds in New 
Jersey, the Delawares. One of tht 
Chiefs of the tribe sits buried in an 
old cemetery a Jew rods from us. I 
say sits buried, for the tradition is that 
he was buried in a sittinar posture, 
with all his parapbarnalia of war and 
the chase about him, and that all night 
on the night of his burial a wild relig- 
ious dance was kept up. 

A part of the land purchased by 
Samuel Fleming was a tract ot about 
one hundred and five acres, and em- 
braced the spot upon which we now 
stand." This was in 1756, one hundied 
and fifty years ago, and upon it be 
ertctt d the main part of this strucluie 
which yon have cume to memorlalze 
to day. 

Some nipp or ten years previous to 
that time Fleming bad b^en Ic u>-ed 
bv the Countv Court lo keep a tavern, 

I which he presumably did in a log house 
standing on or near this site. 

1 Thi-< house was built to take the 
place of the more modest strnc'ure, 
and it too was a public house. For the 
time it laid claim to cons'derable pre- 
tentiousnesp, and people came from 
far and near to see it. 
Fleming kept tavern here, and being 




Scene at Fleming Castle. 



H public bouse, and oneot the flrsi here, 
I have no doubt the great Washington, 
when in this neighborhood lodjj-pd with- 
in itft walls, esoecially as both Fleming 
Knd his soa-in-lav, Cul. Lowrey, were 
s'aunch patriots and intimate with 
Washington. This house was called 
Flemirg's Castle, and is said to have 
bpen the first house built hpre. 

At one time there was in the rear a 
low roof extending far below the eaves, 
but that has been removed, to give it 
a more modern appearance; and with- 
in it IS somewhat unique in that it has 
a winding stairway extending from the 
basement to the top floor. 

Some slight additions have been made 
to the house by recent owners, but it 
is I'ttle nhanged. 

Samuel Fleming's wif<^ was Esther 
Mouoier, a lady of Frenc^i Huguenot 
extraction, and a most estimable lady 
she was. To her and Samuel Flem- 
ing were born ten children, one ol 
whom rests in the little cemetery just 
over the knoll. Many of their descend- 
ants still live in this County. 

Samuel Fleming was born io Ireland 



iu 1707 and died in Flemia»?ton in 1790. 
It is not known just when he immigrat- 
ed from Ireland to this section. 

Two historians at least state that 
when he came from Ireland he brought 
with him a boy of ten, named Thomas 
Lowrey, who afterwards became Col. 
Lowrey. Dr. Race in his sketch of 
Thnmas Lowrey says this is a mistake, 
and that Thomas Lowrey did not come 
until some time later. Be that as it 
may, there are some well authenticated 
facts coDcerniog Lowrey. He grew to 
manhood, married Esther Fleming, a 
daughter of Samuel and Esther, pur- 
chased large tracts nf land, engaged in 
mercantile business, was eminently 
successful, was an officer in the New 
Jersey Militia, was the iniraate friend 
of Washington, was a member of the 
Provincial Congress from Hunterdon 
County, and after the war of in- 
dependence was a member of the State 
Legislature from Hunterdon County. 

It is from him that this Chapter of 
Daughters of the American Revolution 
takes its name, and most fittingly so I 
think. 



8 



He and his wife E^ther were earnest 
and poergetic supporters of the cause of 
freedom. In Esther's b^som the fires 
of patriotism burned with fierce inten- 
eitv. 

It is said that no one occasion news 
came at day breaij that the American 
army had met with a serious disaster. 
Esther was stirring and beard it earlv. 
Her blood was stirred to rage by the 
news. Rnshine to the chamber door, 
she called out to her husband, "Thoaaas. 
get up and mount the ould mare, and 
ride as fast as you can, and find out if 
the dom lie is thrue." 

Her Irish brogue, and the Irish 
propensity for making Irish bulls would 
come to the surface when she was 
excited 

For <i time this vicinity was called 
"Fleming's Settlement," "^nd as one 
house efter another was erected to 
keep company with Fleming's Castle, 
the hamlet was called Fleming, after 
its founder; and afterwards another 
syllable was added to the appellation, 
and it became Flemington, which name 
it still *^ears. Just when and why the 
appellation was changed I have not 
been able to learn. I have no doubt 
the pffix "ton" is an abbrevia'ion of 
the word town, and it is possible that 
it may have at one time been called 
Flemingtown. At any rate the last 
syllable of the present name adds 
weight to the title. 

This house was afterwards purchased 
by Dr. George Creed, who was the 
first physician to prnctice in what is 
Raritan Township This was probably 
in 1765, and it is uncertain just when 
he left this vicinity. Little seems to 
be known of him. 

The next owiier of the house was the 
Honorable Samuel L. Southard, end 
we have a right to feel proud thil 
such a man as he at one time made 
hie home in this community. He 
resided in this house until about 1814, 
when he built the house on Main 
street, formerly occupied by Hon. 
Alexander Wurte, now by the Misses 
Killgore, 

Mr. Southard was born in 1787 and 



died in 1843. He was educated at 
Princeton College, then called the Col- 
lege of New Jersey, and afterwards 
called to the New Jersey Bar. He 
filled many honorable and important 
of'sitions. He was a Justice of the 
New Jersey Supreme Court at the 
parlv atre of twenty-eight, was chosen 
U S. Senator in 1821, was appointed 
Secretary of the Navy in 1823, and 
for short periods ec'ed as Secretary of 
the Treasury and of War. Was 
Attorney General of New Jersey, in 
1829, and Governor in 1832. and was 
again TJ. S. Senator from 1833 until the 
time ot his deatn. In 1841 he was 
President of that body. 

He was also the first President of 
the Hunterdon County Bible Society. 

At an early day the property came 
into the possossion of the Bonneil 
family, but I do not think any ot the 
family resided hera. 

More than sixlv years ago, Mr. 
(/harles Miller, the ancestor of the 
present owners, entered into possession 
of the premises, and later became the 
owner of them. He occupied the place 
for a considerable time before purchas- 
ing it. For more than half a century 
his family have resided here. When 
Mr. Miller first moved her« there was 
no building between this house and the 
Court House, and all around was 
vacant land. 

There was quite a large circle of the 
Miller family once, but now only two 
remain. Miss Lucy Miller and her 
nephew, Charles. They two and a 
little girl whom they have taken to 
their hearts are the only tenants now. 
But, "Soft, behold ! Lo, where it 
comes again. " I speak of that ethereal, 
evanescent, invisible tenant of whom 
Mr. Vosseller told us this afternoon. 

You have marked this spot, and you 
have done well. We have lifted the 
veil that curtains one hundred and 
fiftv years that are past. For a century 
and a half this house has stood, and it 
ought 10 be perpetuated through 
centuries to come. As we lift the veil 
that shields this simple tablet we mark 
the beginning of a new era. 



* i 



I ; I 



I J 



Ilkistration of tke tablet puLlisked in tke Hun- 
terdon Countvj Democrat of Marck 27, 1906, skowing 
it kefore couipletiou. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 206 307 4 # 



